# Correct Science Fiction cultural predictions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542 "2010-03-15T14:50:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/21 "2010-03-15T18:36:40Z")
In [_Cyberbooks_](http://www.amazon.com/Cyberbooks-Ben-Bova/dp/0312931816) (1989), Ben Bova correctly predicted e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle; though he perhaps overestimated their potential importance. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/22 "2010-03-15T18:38:39Z")
In the novelization of _2001: A Space Odyssey,_ Arthur C. Clarke has a character, while on a commercial spaceflight to an orbital station, reading the day’s newspapers with an electronic “Newspad.” Today you can do the same thing with a laptop. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/23 "2010-03-15T19:12:17Z")
Or, even closer, with an Ipad or similar. By the way, pocket calculators are still very much in use in universities because you can’t use communication-capable devices in exams. The problem is that some models approach the price of far more capable netbooks… ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/24 "2010-03-15T19:12:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Supposedly, the inventor of the waterbed credited Heinlein with his description of the device in a couple of his stories. (But some folks claim this is either not true, or exaggerated) And to be accurate, the actual waterbed that Heinlein invented isn’t anything like the actual real waterbed we have today–we have a big bladder of warmed water that people sleep on top of. Heinlein’s had people getting into a sort of body sized condom that was inserted into the bed so that you were immersed in the water and actually floating (except for your head–there’s discussion about adjusting the collar). Excluding the discomfort of having that plastic against your skin, it actually sounds fun (assuming salt water to make you more buoyant) . ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/25 "2010-03-15T19:39:58Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Does that really reflect reality? > > Clinton vs Bush > Bush vs Gore > Bush vs Kerry > Obama vs McCain > > The term pretty boy hardly describes any of those people. This is pretty random, but I’ve spent the last couple months studying policy issues in the Philippines, and it’s pretty true there. The current VP used to be a TV anchorman. Being VP is his first job in politics. Whoever’s the most famous and has the snappiest campaign ads wins, regardless of political party and platform. The previous president, Joseph Estrada, was a movie star. (He’s running again right now, btw.) But it’s not a very accurate description of US politics, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/26 "2010-03-15T19:48:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Several of them. Leo Szilard has stated that he knew the political implications of the Atomic Bomb from the device of that name appearing in H.G. Wells’ _The World Set Free_. > Supposedly, the inventor of the waterbed credited Heinlein with his description of the device in a couple of his stories. (But some folks claim this is either not true, or exaggerated) The other invention credited to Heinlein is the [waldo.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_manipulator). Wikipedia cites the patent denial for the waterbed, but I’ll concede they may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/27 "2010-03-15T19:51:49Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > And to be accurate, the actual waterbed that Heinlein invented isn’t anything like the actual real waterbed we have today–we have a big bladder of warmed water that people sleep on top of. Heinlein’s had people getting into a sort of body sized condom that was inserted into the bed so that you were immersed in the water and actually floating (except for your head–there’s discussion about adjusting the collar). Excluding the discomfort of having that plastic against your skin, it actually sounds fun (assuming salt water to make you more buoyant) . It sounds like you are thinking of the waterbed in the hospital in **Stranger in a Strange Land**. The waterbed in **Beyond This Horizon** (1948) was more like a modern one, except that it didn’t fill up until you laid down on top of it. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/28 "2010-03-15T22:12:36Z")
C.M. Kornbluth predicted the dumbing-down effect (of advanced technology) upon the population, in “The Marching Morons”. Great read, but hard to find. If you like this genere, read “The Black Bag”-it talks about what happens when a 20th century doctor gets hold of technology from the future. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/29 "2010-03-15T22:16:43Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > C.M. Kornbluth predicted the dumbing-down effect (of advanced technology) upon the population, in “The Marching Morons”. > Great read, but hard to find. > If you like this genere, read “The Black Bag”-it talks about what happens when a 20th century doctor gets hold of technology from the future. But, Kornbluth appears to have gotten that **completely** wrong. See the [Flynn Effect.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect) (BTW, “The Black Bag” is also by Kornbluth and appears to be set in the same fictive universe.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/30 "2010-03-15T22:22:20Z")
And in Kornbluth’s story, it wasn’t tech that dumbed people down, it was genetics. The smart, intellectual types were outbred by the unwashed, dumb masses. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/31 "2010-03-15T22:54:33Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > And in Kornbluth’s story, it wasn’t tech that dumbed people down, it was genetics. The smart, intellectual types were outbred by the unwashed, dumb masses. I’m hoping to Og that _Idiocracy_ isn’t one of those prophetic science fiction films. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/32 "2010-03-16T00:02:34Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I’m hoping to Og that _Idiocracy_ isn’t one of those prophetic science fiction films. The cause of the Flynn Effect, whether it is environmental or somehow genetic, remains undetermined, AFAIK; but, at any rate, there is no hard evidence **yet** of industrial civilization having any **dys** genic pressure on the average level of native intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/33 "2010-03-16T00:42:49Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > This is pretty random, but I’ve spent the last couple months studying policy issues in the Philippines, and it’s pretty true there. The current VP used to be a TV anchorman. Being VP is his first job in politics. Whoever’s the most famous and has the snappiest campaign ads wins, regardless of political party and platform. The previous president, Joseph Estrada, was a movie star. (He’s running again right now, btw.) > > But it’s not a very accurate description of US politics, actually. Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, was a perfect example of the pretty boy empty suit elected as president - so these “predictions” are more historical than forward looking. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/34 "2010-03-16T00:52:41Z")
Heinlein, in “Solution Unsatisfactory” predicted the nuclear standoff - with atomic dust, not bombs. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/35 "2010-03-16T01:18:11Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Does that really reflect reality? > > Clinton vs Bush > Bush vs Gore > Bush vs Kerry > Obama vs McCain > > The term pretty boy hardly describes any of those people. True, and maybe pretty boy was not the right term. But if you’re a Democrat, Schneider anticipated George W. Bush, and if you’re a Republican, he anticipated Barak Obama – perceived as no more than a handsome face and a lot of slogans. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/36 "2010-03-16T01:20:32Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > That ain’t exactly a prediction, that’s just a description. Puffed-up nobodies have been a feature of democracy since the Athenians. I should make it clear – the concept was a fictional version of what was described as fact in **The Selling of the President 1968**. The latter, which described how Richard Nixon was packaged like any other commercial product, was entirely anticipated by **The Golden Kazoo**. The book ends with the point that the political pollsters and media advisors would be the ones who determined who became President, not the candidate, and especially not the candidate’s ideas. The winner in the book is named Henry Clay Adams and his one political issue is a promise for 110% of parity payments for farmers. But Adams isn’t important – the media advisors are. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542/37 "2010-03-16T01:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Heinlein, in “Solution Unsatisfactory” predicted the nuclear standoff - with atomic dust, not bombs. Except in the story, it wasn’t a standoff: The Americans, with nuclear weapons in hand, promptly conquered the rest of the world to make sure nobody else would develop such weapons, too. You can find examples of MAD in other science fiction stories, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-science-fiction-cultural-predictions/532542.md?page=1)